Community HealthFest set for Saturday

Health screenings, immunizations, games, food and more were offered for free at the Community HealthFest, Aug. 3, 2013, at Fairfield Christian Academy. They will be offered again this year on Saturday at the academy, 1965 N. Columbus St., Lancaster.(Photo: Eagle-Gazette file photo, Eagle-Gazette file photo)

"Last year we had more than 750 people, with half of them children, showing up for the event," said FMC Community Educator Resa Tobin. "There will be a variety of health screenings and activities to promote health and well-being of the participants."

The HealthFest originally began as a service FMC and area health care providers put together to promote wellness in the community, Tobin said.

"FMC is more than a place to come to when you're ill," Tobin said. "We want to encourage people to become healthier and this is one of the ways we try to enable people to do it."

Among the screenings available will be cholesterol and glucose screenings; dental checkups; vision and hearing tests; spinal tests; blood pressure; bone density tests and childhood immunizations.

All services are free and provided by FMC and the Fairfield Department of Health. The space and volunteers to help set up have been donated by the church.

There will also be new things at this year's event, Tobin said.

"We've got a lot of new vendors this year," Tobin said. "Altogether there will be more than 40 on hand Saturday."

FMC also developed the HealthFest this year with a little faster pace, Tobin said.

"We are going to have a DJ there who will play music for 15 minutes and then we are going to have doctors talk and taking questions on different topics for 10 minutes," Tobin said.

The event will also have activities for children, including face painting, video games and helicopters and police cars to explore. There will also be some free school supplies available while supplies last.

During the three-hour period last year, Tobin estimated about $40,000 in services were provided to attendees.

In past years the event brought in more than 1,000 people, but last year it was 752. However, they came from 32 communities.